(The win) was huge. You know going out on the road having lost two tough ones (if we lost this one) would not have been a good scenario for us. At least we know we can hang in games and win. |
[But there is no doubt how Rivers feels about Allen.] Before Danny signed me on as coach, I told him, 'All I know is if Tony Allen's around, wherever I am I'm taking him (in the draft),' ... Danny said, 'He's my guy, too.' |
[Contrary to speculation, coach Doc Rivers says he didn't demand that the Celtics retain Blount.] The only thing I kept saying to Danny was, 'Assets, assets, assets,' ... When I talked with Mark, I liked what he told me. He kept talking about defense and, even though everyone told me he would not be back, he kept telling me that he wanted to be a Celtic. I told Danny and the owners, 'Here's a guy that wants to be in Boston.' |
A great effort by everybody. |
After [Tuesday's] practice, I was going to activate Marcus, at least I was thinking strongly on doing it. Then, after [yesterday] we thought we'd wait another day of practice. |
Another calm night. I think we deserved that one after the last two times that we played them. We felt we stole this one tonight. But we felt they stole two from us, so we owed them that one. |
As a staff, you get to see how your guys handle playoff basketball, and I think it's easier to evaluate in playoff games what you need for the following year than it is in the 82-game regular season. |
As far away as we are, we are still very close to becoming a good team. When we decided to break this team down last year, letting Antoine (Walker) and Gary (Payton) go, we understood what that would mean. We still hoped to make the playoffs and that's disappointing, but I think this team will be better sooner rather than later. |
At the moment, it doesn't mean as much because we're not as good, either team. But the moment we both become that good, then the rivalry will be right back where it was. These two cities, and you can throw New York in there, have something going with each other. |
Because they go pick-and-roll we wanted to go man-to-man on them and force them to beat us off the dribble or make a shot with a hand in their face. I didn't want them to go to the bucket, cause contact (from a helping big man), and put it in someone else's hands to let them do it at the foul line. |
Beyond the obvious benefit of playing time, it gives us the chance to see where he's at. It will be interesting to see what happens when he gets the consistent minutes. I want to try and fit him into as many situations as possible. |
Chicago's speed and their pick-and-roll has given Miami trouble in the past. At the end of the day though, size will win out and that will favor Miami. |
Do you judge me on three years of overachievement or 10 games of underachievement? |
Duncan deserves everything he gets, as far as I'm concerned. It's frustrating guarding Tim Duncan even if they think he's not getting the calls. He's a hell of a basketball player. |
Even if we got it up court, we wouldn't have gotten a good shot off. It's a tough loss. The game felt like the last team who had the ball was going to score. Nobody was playing defense on either team. |